"Meet-Cute"
‘The Gardenview Museum is now closing, thanks for visiting!’
Sprout watched as children returned to their parents to leave, some kids almost refusing to leave their beloved characters behind, but luckily many of the toons knew how to convince the children to leave. It’s not that the toons didn’t like their fans or anything, but everyone needs a break.
The toon handlers seemed eager to leave as well- like the toons needed a break from the kids, the handlers needed a break from their toons. Sprout wouldn’t bother them and instead head to the group of toons that were his friends- except Dandy. It wasn't that he disliked his fellow mains, he just had other things to take care of. He’s the star, after all!
“Well I’m beat. How are you guys holding up?” He leaned against the wall. Shelly would be struggling to open a pop, before handing it to Sprout who’d open it for her.
“It’s going!” She smiled, taking the pop back after. “Someone thought I was a cinnamon roll…”
The ammonite took a sip from her pop, her face scrunching a bit as the pop was a bit stronger than she anticipated. “What about you, Sprout?”
“I’m alright, just tired. The kids are charming, but I think I’m done with them inadvertently calling me ugly. This little kid- I don’t think he was older than 5- said I looked like a raspberry! A raspberry!” He enunciated. “I mean, don’t kids usually know their fruits by that age?”
“I mean…” Vee would side-eye Sprout, causing him to deflate a bit.
“…Noted.” The strawberry sighed. “I just wish there was a way to get the kids to like me more, you know? Instead of being scared of my apparently hideous face.”
”Maybe you could offer them something…? You could give away baked goods or… something.” Astro chimed in, who was tired after the long day- and when was he never?
“Oh, I have!” Sprout remembered, taking out a bag of some of the leftover cookies he offered to some visitors. It seemed… well… er… he definitely tried!
The other three looked at the burnt cookies with disdain.
“These looked burnt.” Vee pointed out the obvious. “Have you really been feeding people this?”
“Well sorry, I’m not a baker!”
“They can’t be that bad!” Shelly hesitantly took a cookie. “Can’t judge a dinosaur from its appearance, right?”
The ammonite took a bite of the cookie, the others, even Sprout, watching her in disgust. She paused for a moment after chewing. The taste was indescribable, it was clear that Sprout was trying to make chocolate chip cookies (judging by the faint taste of chocolate in Shelly’s mouth), but clearly something went wrong.
“It’s… great.” She forced out, elongating the vowels in the word to hopefully sound more convincing- but ultimately failing at it.
“You don’t have to lie to me, Shelly.”
“Okay, yeah, it’s not that good. But it could be worse!” The shell admitted, despite her not wanting to bring her friend down. She followed Sprout as he went to sit down on a chair. “Really, all you’d need is a few baking lessons and I’m sure you’ll make actual chocolate chip cookies!”
“Maybe… are there even any good bakers in Gardenview?” There was always the toon handlers and the human staff that makes their meals, but Sprout feels like they’d teach him because they feel as if they had to, being a main and all.
“There’s Cosmo.” Vee mentioned.
“Cosmo… the cosmic brownie, right?” Sprout saw Cosmo around- he was a much more popular toon, nearly on par with the mains but not that popular. Sprout usually saw him giving out cupcakes and treats to the kids. “I could ask him, but I’m not sure if we know each other well enough for that.”
“Oh, I could introduce you!” Shelly suggested, throwing the cookie out. “Me and Cosmo are friends! We’ve baked together a few times. He’s really good at it.”
“You’d do that?” Sprout looked at Shelly, who nodded. “Well alright then! Guess I’ll give it a shot.”
About half an hour passed and slowly, all the toons hopped in the elevator and descended down to the toon rooms after all of the visitors (hopefully) left. The toon handlers left too, their shifts ended at this time anyway.
Sprout was happy to collapse on his bed after the long day of entertaining children. He just wished they weren’t so mean sometimes, though he knows that they don’t mean it. Probably. Children are just out of pocket most of the time.
The strawberry’s hand subconsciously reached for the bag of cookies he brought, taking a bite before almost immediately spitting it out. “Maybe I should’ve taste tested these beforehand.” He hoped meeting Cosmo would help with his horrible baking skills.
Shelly had found out when Cosmo was free soon after that and today was the day they were supposed to meet. Exciting! Sprout almost wore something formal for the occasion, but decided against it. Cosmo’s a regular toon just like him or anyone else, no need to wear something fancy!
Sprout adjusted his scarf as Shelly dragged him to the place where Cosmo was waiting. After some small talk in here and there, the elevator they had stepped in finally opened up to the diner. “Cosmo should be here…” Shelly stepped out, looking for the pastry who was supposed to be meeting them. The elevator door soon slammed shut after the other toon followed behind.
“Maybe he’s late?”
“Maybe? But he’s not usually late-“
Ding! Both toons turned around as the elevator opened up again, carrying the cosmic brownie they were waiting for- holding a plate of cookies.
“Sorry I’m late.” His voice was soft, just about what you’d expect from a toon focused on generosity. “I was making cookies for the person you want me to meet-“ He looked up, just to meet eyes with Sprout.
He expected anyone but a main. I mean, sure, he was friends with Shelly, but arguably she was the least intimidating of the mains.
Cosmo quickly scrambled for some kind of greeting so he wouldn’t embarrass himself. “Er… Hi there. Sprout Seedly, right?” Was addressing him by his full name too formal? Should he be more formal? Oh glaze was he nervous.
Sprout grimaced a bit at hearing his last name. “Just call me Sprout! And you’re Cosmo?”
“Aha, yep, that’s me.” He shuffled nervously, remembering that he was holding a plate of snacks for this meeting. “Cookie?” The pastry toon held up the plate to Sprout- man was he tall.
Six chocolate chip cookies laid on the plate, delicately baked with care. This guy really knows what he’s doing, the berry thought. “Well if you insist!” Sprout reached for a cookie, tilting it slightly as if he was inspecting it.
Cosmo watched in anticipation as the toon in front of him took a bite of the cookie. He was never too worried about his baking, but you never know. Sprout was silent for a bit, taking in the taste.
The cookie was… incredible! To no one's surprise, of course. The dough was soft and easy to bite through, the chocolate melting in his mouth as he couldn’t help but finish the rest of the cookie. This toon really knows how to bake!
“This is amazing!” The berry finally spoke, snapping Cosmo out of his suspense. “Vee wasn’t kidding when she said you could bake.”
“Oh! Ha, thanks.” They were talking about him?? He wondered what they were saying- he only hoped that there weren’t any insults. “Er, Shelly said you baked as well?”
“Yeah, I’m not very good at it though.” He admitted with a sheepish smile. “I don’t exactly have a recipe book or anything, so I’ve had to make up the amounts and ingredients myself. And Brightney wasn’t able to get any more cookbooks yet sooo…”
“Oh- that’s… not the best idea.”
“I know that much now…”
“If you wanted, I could try and teach you some things.” He suggested, which Sprout was relieved for, since he wouldn’t have to steer the conversation to bring it up himself. “Baking is pretty simple, all things considered.”
“You’d do that? I’d love to!”
The brownie nodded. He enjoyed teaching his friends some stuff about baking or cooking, it’s nice to be able to share his interests.
Chats turned into conversations as minutes passed before the two could realize. It had eventually come to a point where neither of them had much to say anymore, and an awkward yet comfortable silence was shared. Sprout tapped his fingers against the diner table, they had decided to sit down somewhere halfway into their conversations.
His eyes moved around until landing on the clock on one of the walls, noticing the time. “We’ve been here a while.”
“Mhm, that’s for sure. I should probably get going…” Cosmo stood from his seat. “I’ll see you around?”
Sprout gave him a reaffirming nod, and Cosmo headed for the elevator. That was, until he abruptly stopped as if he just remembered something. “I almost forgot-” The brownie turned his head back. “Does tomorrow work?”
“Tomorrow? For what?”
“...for the baking lessons.” Sprout was so caught up in their conversations he almost forgot about that.
“Oh, right!” He recomposed himself. “Tomorrow works great.” Sprout was a little busy, sure, but he’d definitely have time for it.
“Great! I'll see you then.”
They shared one last goodbye, and Sprout was alone.